New Baltimore Police Chief Tim Wiley was back on the job Sunday, two days after being released from the hospital after he suffered a life-threatening reaction to being stung by an army of bees outside of the police station.

Wiley, who is allergic to bee stings, found himself in the middle of a swarm of bees Friday morning after a hive the size of a volleyball fell on his foot from a barbecue cover he had shaken out in the department's parking lot.

"I didn't even know what hit me," he said Sunday evening while going through police reports in his office. "It felt like someone had thrown spattered grease all over me. They were aggressive -- they were burred in my socks, up my sleeves, it was horrible."

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The 34-year-old law enforcer had been stung approximately 30 times all over his body. As he ran for cover in the department, police Cadet Nicholas Calandra swatted away as many of the bees as he could.

Once inside the station, Wiley was able to grab his EpiPen, an automatic injector of epinephrine used to combat the sting's reaction. He tried to talk to his secretary Denise Schultz before he fell to the ground. As she called 911 for assistance, Detective Randy Blackburn rushed in as a Medstar ambulance crew arrived.

A paramedic crew from the city's fire department also rushed to the station.

Fire Capt. Greg Morabito said the chief's condition was "very serious" when he arrived.

"I think Chief Wiley saved his own life," Morabito said. "Giving himself that injection is what saved his life before any of us were there."

While in an ambulance on the way to McLaren Macomb hospital in Mount Clemens, his airway closed and he stopped breathing as paramedics administered CPR. He was in the hospital for 11 hours as physicians administered Benadryl, antibiotics, oxygen and fluids. He relapsed but was back at home with his family on Saturday.

Much of the episode was captured on the department's video surveillance system. Wiley has released images from the system to area media as an educational tool.

A former member of the Anchor Bay Board of Education and father of two said he probably will create an awareness presentation out of the images to develop something positive from a scary situation.

"I don't want to be the poster boy for bee stings but I've heard a lot of comments from people who have heard about what happened," he said. "So I feel it's important for me to share my experience, to remind people to have their medication with them if they suffer from this allergy."

Wiley said he appreciates the fast action of everyone involved in the incident. But knowing police officers as he does -- law enforcement officials are notorious for their brutal teasing of each other -- he anticipates a lot of jokes in the coming weeks, maybe even someone coming by dressed up as a bumblebee.

"Yes, everyone is being kind to me for the moment, but I know it's going to be ugly from now on," he said.